You've reached the foot of the Royal Mile, the other pole of power. It all began with an abbey: in 1128 David I founded a monastery of Augustinian canons here, dedicated to the Holy Cross – the 'Holy Rood'. The ruins of its church, roofless since it collapsed in 1768, still stand beside the palace.
Tradition says the king, out hunting in these woods, was attacked by a stag, and a cross appeared between its antlers and saved him.
1The Stuarts' palace
Kings preferred the comfort of the abbey to the draughts of the castle. James IV built a palace here around 1501, in time for his marriage to Margaret Tudor. The tower on the left is the oldest part, from the reign of James V. Mary Queen of Scots lived here from 1561 to 1567, and here, on 9 March 1566, a group of nobles, with the complicity of her own husband, Lord Darnley, dragged her secretary David Rizzio from her rooms and stabbed him to death.
The symmetrical front comes from the rebuilding Charles II commissioned from Sir William Bruce in the 1670s: to balance the old tower, Bruce built an identical one on the right.
2What to look out for
- The two towers: compare them – the one on the left is a century and a half older.
- The forecourt fountain, from 1859, modelled on the one at Linlithgow Palace.
- The royal arms on the iron gates.
Documented
The abbey was founded in 1128; the palace was begun around 1501; David Rizzio was murdered here on 9 March 1566; Charles II rebuilt it in the 1670s.
Oral tradition
The cross appearing between the stag's antlers is a foundation legend, not a documented event.
Sources and credits
Royal Collection Trust, official Palace of Holyroodhouse website; Historic Environment Scotland, Holyrood Abbey; Antonia Fraser, 'Mary Queen of Scots' (1969).
Photos:
- Front of the Palace of Holyroodhouse with its two towers and the forecourt fountain: Daniel Kraft, CC BY-SA 3.0.
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